Virginia Eyes – Pun Intended – Defensive Improvement

Virginia
Virginia assistant coach Curome Cox said defense begins by trusting what you see. ~ Photo by Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

Virginia football fans that watched the defense last season likely experienced a range of emotions. Those emotions probably – understatement alert – trended to the frustrated end of the spectrum. New Wahoo assistant Chris Slade, a fan watching from afar himself last season, called it embarrassing at times.

Understandably.

Out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, the Cavaliers ranked 103rd (tie) in points allowed at 31.8 and 121st in total defense at 466.0 yards per game allowed. They were 88th in pass defense at 240.2 yards per game allowed and 123rd in run defense at 225.83 yards per game allowed. The defense wasn’t particularly opportunistic either, rating 93rd (tie) in take-aways with 14, 113th (tie) in sacks with 18, 121st (tie) in tackles for loss with 52, and 88th in third down defense with 40.99% allowed conversions.

Really, aside from red zone defense where UVA allowed just 76.47% scoring conversions (27th) and just a 50.98% touchdown rate (23rd), there simply wasn’t much to celebrate on defense.

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